Frequently asked questions
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I've got <an error message> at <step #> in the Submission Portal. How I can fix it?
Refer to the SRA Submission Portal Wizard Troubleshooting Guide for help at every step of your submission.
How many samples and experiments do I need?
You may have more than one experiment per sample.
A Sample is a record of biological isolate with unique physical properties.
Please refer to the SRA BioProject & BioSample Guide for detailed descriptions and guidelines.
An Experiment is a unique sequencing result for a specific sample.
In the SRA Metadata template, Experiment is represented by a combination of library + strategy + layout + instrument model and corresponds to one row in the table.
Please refer to the SRA Metadata Overview for better understanding of SRA data organization.
What SRA accession do I use for my publication and where can I find it?
We recommend using the BioProject accession (PRJNA#)
in publications.
A BioProject is an umbrella for all data submitted to the NCBI for a given study. Each BioProject can be associated with more than one submission in SRA. After you have successfully completed your submission, the SRA will send an email notification with the BioProject accession.
My manuscript reviewer is requesting a link to my submission, how do I get one?
- Log into the Submission Portal's Manage Data Interface
- Find the BioProject of interest by browsing, searching, or filtering all your data
- Press the button "Reviewer link".
Note: (1) The link expires after the release of the data and (2) the SRA provides access to the metadata only.
I received notification that my submission has been released. Why can't I find it in Entrez?
It may take up to 3 days for your submission to be searchable in Entrez. However, it will become public and searchable almost immediately in SRA Run Selector.
Why doesn't my Aspera upload work?
For troubleshooting Aspera service, please refer to Aspera Support 
.
I registered my BioProject as well as BioSamples but I was never prompted to upload my sequence datafiles for the SRA.
To deposit your files in the SRA you need to create and finish (submit) a new submission in the SRA Submission Portal. Please refer to our Quick Start guide.
How do I create more than one Experiment (library/replicate) per Sample in Submission Portal?
Each row in the SRA metadata template represents one EXPERIMENT. Use the same BioSample accession or name (depending on the template) in rows (Experiments) that you want to associate with this sample.
How do I create more than one Run per Expermient in Submission Portal?
Only one Run per Experiment is allowed in the Submission Portal. When libraries are indeed identical (same combination of library + strategy + layout + instrument model), all files should be placed in the same RUN. To do this simply enter the file names consecutively in the same row.
How do I delete my submission (SUB#) in Submission Portal?
To delete SRA submissions please contact SRA staff for assistance at sra@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Provide SUB# and reason. To delete BioProject or BioSample submissions please contact BioProject or BioSample staff at bioprojecthelp@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and biosamplehelp@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov respectively Provide SUB# and reason.
How do I add more samples to my SRA submission in Submission Portal?
Submission is a discrete act of depositing data (transaction). You cannot add data to a submission. Instead, you need to add new samples and new SRA data and/or new SRA data to existing samples to a BioProject.
BioProject serves as an umbrella for all data submitted to the NCBI for a given research project. In order to update your bioproject with new samples and/or SRA data, you should create a new submission where
you provide the BioProject accession (PRJNA#) of the project you want to update. This will ensure that all pertinent data are linked to the same accession in Entrez and become searchable across databases.
I uploaded all data files into my personal folder, but I cannot see any files or folders when prompted to select one.
Make sure that you uploaded your files into the subfolder that you created within your account folder (root directory uploads/user@email.com_xyz). The subfolder may not contain nested directories.
If you uploaded your files directly into your account, create a subfolder (mkdir <name>), move your files into this directory (example of FTP command line: rename fish.fastq ./data_folder/fish.fastq), and allow 15 minutes for file discovery before selecting it when prompted.
My manuscript has been published. How do I update my SRA submission with the publication?
Please refer to the SRA Update Guide
How do I improve/correct my metadata after submitting?
Please refer to the SRA Update Guide
How do I withdraw my SRA Study/ExperimentT/Run in SRA (SRP#/SRX#/SRR#)?
Contact the SRA staff for assistance at sra@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Provide SRP#, SRX#, SRR# or your submission's ID in the form of SUB#.
SRA follows INSDC policy for withdrawal and suppression requests:
http://www.insdc.org/documents/insdc-status-document
How do I re-name my Experiement/Run?
Aliases of Experiments and Runs cannot be changed. They are used for internal tracking only, which means that they will not be visible to the public during normal usage of the database. However, you always can improve the Title of the Experiment by logging in the SRA Submission Portal directly, editing text in the Experiment's field Title and clicking the button Save.
See Updating SRA data help page for more information.
How do I change the PLATFORM in my Experiements?
Contact SRA staff for assistance at sra@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
How do I link an Experiement to a different Sample?
1) Log into the SRA Submission Portal
2) From the bottom of the BioProject page, select the runs you want to update
3) Click the Edit metadata button
4) Change the values in the biosample accession field
5) Click the Submit button
How do I link a RUN to a different Experiement?
Contact SRA staff for assistance at sra@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
Contact SRA
If you were unable to resolve your problem after reading this guide, contact SRA staff at sra@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
- Include all pertinent identifiers (**`SUB#`**, **`PRJNA#`**, **`SRP#`**, **`SRX#`**, **`SRR#`**, etc.) and state your problem clearly.
- Do not create duplicate submissions